By Don Jacobson
In this installment of Chicago In Song, two great country singer/songwriters highlight one of the city’s most characteristic portrayals in song lyrics – its status as a magnet for poor, often homeless, migrants. Call them tramps, hobos, bums or economic refugees, Chicago’s continuing attraction to the country’s (and the world’s) down-and-out gets an artistic workout from Merle Haggard and Dwight Yoakam.
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Merle Haggard/I Take a Lot of Pride In What I Am
Usually when we’re talking about Chicago’s place of infamy in song lyrics in this space, it’s something along the lines of poverty, despair or some other offshoot of misery. One rich vein in that category that we look for the first time here is the city’s longtime identification with homelessness, courtesy of Merle Haggard and his 1969 classic, “I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am.”
Posted on February 1, 2010